Ghana

Despite a talented player pool, the Black Stars have found little international success recently outside of World Cup qualifying - their last friendly win was in October 2023 and they failed to qualify for AFCON for the first time since 2004. Manager Otto Addo was sacked after a fifth straight friendly loss to Germany in March and replaced with Carlos Queiroz in hopes that his record of disciplined, pragmatic national sides can bring some semblance of stable footing. Queiroz has had two friendlies in charge, a loss against Mexico used mainly to assess squad depth and a tepid draw vs. Wales in which Ghana showed some life in transition but were pinned back overall. Ghana have at least shown signs that they've taken to Queiroz's OOP principles, falling into a flat low block out of 4-1-4-1 and 4-2-3-1 possession shapes.

Personnel-wise, things remain murky. We have a rare battle for the starting goalkeeper position between Lawrence Ati-Zigi and Benjamin Asare and an up-for-grabs spot in midfield alongside Thomas Partey (yeah...). Addo had dabbled in back three ideas previously, but the loss of Alexander Djiku to injury makes this unlikely under Queiroz. The absence of Mohamed Kudus (quad injury) has also left an open role for an advanced midfield playmaker. There are plenty of viable candidates for the attacking positions with the only consistent factor being Jordan Ayew up front.